Wednesday, April 18, 2012

We live right near Bear Creek Park on the west side of town. I've painted parts of it so many times, every season, every time of day. I've walked it's paths thousands of times and each time there's another painting just waiting for me!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

I am in San Francisco visiting our daughter and taking a workshop from Karin Jurick. The workshop is great, as is seeing our daughter and it's always fun to be in this city. This piece is from the first day of the class from a photo that Karin provided. Any day sitting on a beach reading is a great day! Any day with your daughter is a great day! Any day taking a workshop is a great day! Any day in San Francisco is a great day!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's take warning." I thought that this old adage was somewhat appropriate for my third Sitka, Alaska color study, but I've changed it a bit to suit my painting. My rendition of this adage is: Red sky and water at night, painter's delight. Red sky and water in morning, painter's exploring." Ok, it sort of works. I call it artistic license.

As I often do, I googled to learn a bit more:"Can weather lore truly predict the weather or seasons?
Weather lore concerning the appearance of the sky the conditions of the atmosphere, the type of movement of the clouds, and the direction of the winds may have a scientific basis and likely can predict the weather.

In order to understand why "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning" can predict the weather, we must understand more about weather and the colors in the sky.

Usually, weather moves from west to east, blown by the westerly trade winds. This means storm systems generally move in from the West.

The colors we see in the sky are due to the rays of sunlight being split into colors of the spectrum as they pass through the atmosphere and ricochet off the water vapor and particles in the atmosphere. The amounts of water vapor and dust particles in the atmosphere are good indicators of weather conditions. They also determine which colors we will see in the sky.

During sunrise and sunset the sun is low in the sky, and it transmits light through the thickest part of the atmosphere. A red sky suggests an atmosphere loaded with dust and moisture particles. We see the red, because red wavelengths (the longest in the color spectrum) are breaking through the atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are scattered and broken up.

Red sky at night, sailors delight.
When we see a red sky at night, this means that the setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically good weather will follow.

Red sky in morning, sailor's warming.
A red sunrise reflects the dust particles of a system that has just passed from the west. This indicates that a storm system may be moving to the east. If the morning sky is a deep fiery red, it means a high water content int he atmosphere. So, rain is on its way."http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/weather-sailor.html

About Me

I am an oil painter from Colorado Springs, Colorado. I retired in May 2008 after 28 years of teaching art and now have more time to pursue my passions of painting and traveling. My life has revolved around my love of art, starting with afternoon art classes while in kindergarten, a degree in art education, sharing my passion with hundreds of students yearly, and painting as often as I can. This journal is a combination of my daily paintings, my studio and plein-air work, my classes and workshops, and pieces from my travels past and present.

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Most of my paintings are for sale either by using a PayPal button or through the Daily PaintWorks Auction. If you are interested in a piece from my early days of blogging, before I used PayPal, please email me and I'll add a button just for you!

My husband and I love to travel. If you do not hear back from me pretty quickly after a purchase, we are on a trip to a location where we don't have immediate access to the internet. It is advised to not always announce on social media that you'll be away from your home for a long period of time, so often I talk about my trips and travels after the fact. Don't fret, I'll get back to you as soon as I can about the purchased painting.